The Psychodynamic Approach

• Who laid the foundations of the psychodynamic approach

  Sigmund Freud
• Psychodynamic approach


  Freud proposed the notion of the unconscious. There are three main assumptions to this approach: personality (ID, ego, superego), that is constructed by the passage through psychosexual stages of development throughout infancy and adolescence, and that the unconscious conflicts in the psych are meditated by processes called defence mechanisms
• The role of the unconscious 


  Any traumatic events or memories from childhood are repressed into the unconscious mind and kept there, hidden from the conscious awareness. The unconscious mind can reveal itself in several ways including dreams, fantasies and slips of the tongue, eg Freudian slips
• The structure of the personality

  The personality is made up of the ID, Ego and Superego
• ID


  Pure erotic energy and is governed by the pleasure principle. It consists of primal urges called drives and seeks nothing but pleasure and instant gratification. It operates on instinct and is the part of the personality which is present at birth
• Ego


  Governed by the reality principle and is tasked with taming the id and balancing the demands of the superego. It is not present at birth
• Superego


  The morality principle. It is characterised by the 'inner voice' that tells us when we have crossed into the boundaries of unacceptable behaviour
• Defence Mechanisms


  Used by the ego in order to cope with the conflicting demands of the other two parts of the personality (ID and Superego). The ego works by distorting reality so that the individual can continue with their everyday life without unpleasant feelings or memories
• Three defence mechanisms


  Repression, denial and displacement
• Repression


  Occurs when a traumatic or distressing memory is forced out of the conscious awareness and into the unconscious mind
• Denial


  Involves a refusal to accept the truth of a situation, acting as though nothing distressing has happened
• Displacement


  When the feelings towards a target individual cannot be expressed directly and are therefore transferred onto something else
• Psychosexual stages 


  Oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital
• Oral


  Focus on the mouth. The infant experiences pleasure through their mouth
• Anal


  Focus on anus. The child becomes aware of the reality principle imposed by the parents and must undergo potty training in order ti control bowel movements.
• Phallic


  focus on genitals. The major feature of this stage is the Oedipus complex in which infant boys must overcome their unconscious sexual desire with their mother
• Latent


  A hidden form. The sexual energy which has driven the previous stages now become latent, so the individual can focus on the world around them
• Genital


  Forming heterosexual relationships. The final stage culminates with the psychosexual energy taking residence in the genitals, to be directed towards the formation of adult relationships